


Beasts and Being

by girlmarvel



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, M/M, Wizarding World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 05:32:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9585590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlmarvel/pseuds/girlmarvel
Summary: In which Kili accidentally adds another illegal creature to his case.  The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy might have something to say against picking up muggles (handsome blonds or no).





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rillaelilz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rillaelilz/gifts).



> This is for prompt 39. Fantastic Beasts AU

Not two days on American soil and Kili is sprinting down the street on the trail of his escaped Niffler. The damn thing is a menace and Kili decides it deserves a very long time out, sans its treasure hoard, for all the trouble it’s caused.

He smacks into a blond man trying to get into the bank before the Niffler slips from his sights, sending them both sprawling to the ground. 

“So sorry,” Kili says, scrambling for his case, which is laying between the man’s legs. “Very sorry,” he repeats giving the poor guy a quick smile before snatching his case and taking off again. _Handsome fellow_ , Kili thinks to himself.

He’s rounding the corner to the vault stairs and doesn’t hear the “Sir, you dropped your…” shouted after him.

 

 

Kili is scrambling, desperately searching all his pockets. _Where is it, where is it?_ a booming chorus in his mind. It was so close to hatching, Kili imagines the poor creature frightened and defenseless on the sidewalk. _How could you be so careless_ , he chides himself as he sprints back towards the last place he was sure he had it.

 

 

The blond man that Kili had bowled over, _the handsome one_ his mind supplies, is sitting on the steps outside the bank. His eyes light up when he catches sight of Kili. 

“I figured you’d be back,” he says, standing up. He reaches into his pocket and extracts a silver egg. He reaches out, offering it to Kili. “This is yours, I believe.”

“You were waiting for me to come back?” Kili asks, surprised and breathing heavily from his run.

“Of course,” the blond shrugs. “Looks like silver, I assumed it was important and you’d come for it. I didn’t have anywhere to be so…”

“That was very kind of you, sir. You’re a real life-saver,” Kili reaches out to take the egg, glad it hadn’t hatched unattended. A moment later, a crack appears in the egg and the blond lets out a gasp. Kili wraps a hand around the man’s wrist and apparates them into an empty alleyway. The blond’s mouth drops to questions this quick change of location but the egg’s movement distracts him. Both men stare down in fascination as the egg rocks back and forth, a small beak appearing in the crack with a weak peep. The shell falls away and Kili pockets the pieces quickly.

This leaves the blond cradling the little occamy gently in his cupped hands, eyes filled with wonder. He looks at Kili, curiosity playing across his face.

“What is it?” 

The Statue of Secrecy briefly flashes across Kili’s thoughts, but he dismisses the (in his opinion) backwards legality in favor of this man’s evident delight. The wizard never could resist innocent curiosity when it came to his creatures and the blond is clearly more enchanted than frightened by this new development in his worldview.

Blue eyes flick down to the wand in Kili’s hand. “For that matter, what are you?”

Kili grins. 

 

 

They’re halfway through a tour of the case, Kili mid-lecture on the horrors of nundu trafficking when he realizes he never asked for the muggle’s name.

“It’s Fili.”

“That’s strange,” Kili reaches out to shake Fili’s hand. “My name is Kili.”

Fili smiles and looks around. “You know,” he says, gesturing at the floating habitats around them. “I don’t know if that qualifies as strange. My threshold for the bizarre has risen very high today.”

 

 

Under the Magical Congress of the United States of America statutes, Kili is required to Obliterate Fili. Kili’s seen enough of America’s backwards anti-muggle (or no-maj as they call them on this side of the ocean) sentiments to know that he doesn’t agree with them. 

Fili is transfixed, in awe of all the creatures and a bit of Kili too if the way his eyes follow the wizard around the habitats is any indication.

“Would you like to help me feed them?” 

Fili’s “Can I?” is all smile.

 

 

Kili ekes information – _Spanish Flu, laid off, applying for a job at the bank before Kili bowled him over_ – out of him over cups of tea, and coffee for Fili once acquired, and in between pouring over Kili’s notes for his intended book. Fili’s curiosity about the magical world and its beasts is endless, refreshing to Kili in a way that surprised him after the stagnant traditions of his own family.

Signs of Fili’s presence are scattered everywhere inside the case. The man has inserted himself so seamlessly into the magizoologist’s life, that Kili has trouble remembering how he ever functioned before Fili. The habitats have never been cleaner, the beasts as calm, or Kili as happy.

The wizard knows Fili isn’t one of his creatures, knows that the man needs Kili for neither shelter nor protection, but Kili wants to keep him all the same. 

 

 

“You’re very fond of that scarf,” Fili remarks one day as they’re walking down the street, Kili’s red and gold scarf wrapped tightly around his neck to ward off the chill.

“Yes, it’s my House colors. Gryffindor,” Kili explains. “At school, all the students are sorted into four houses based on different personality traits. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw.”

“And Gryffindor’s attributes?” Fili asks.

“Being a brash idiot, if you listen to my mum,” Kili chuckles and Fili smiles. “Bravery and all that.” 

“Interesting. And me? Which house would I have gone in?”

Kili doesn’t have the all-knowing wisdom of the Sorting Hat but he thinks of Fili with the runespoor, gaining it’s trust and nursing it back to health and of the way he saved the occamy, waiting for hours on a stranger to return a valuable, and knows without a doubt what the old hat would say if it ever sat on Fili’s head.

“Hufflepuff,” Kili announces and seeing Fili’s curious look, elaborates. “Hufflepuffs value hard work, dedication, patience.” He pauses for a moment, glancing at Fili, “And loyalty.”

“Hufflepuff,” Fili repeats, nodding to himself, seemingly pleased at Kili’s declaration.

 

 

Kili feels a little guilty asking for Fili’s help in busting a smuggler, but knows from experience that two pairs of eyes (and fists) are often better than one. It’s unfair to drag the man into a dangerous situation but Fili is determined to help and handy in a fight, magic or not. Kili is confident the two of them will be able to handle the situation with little violence.

They don’t make it in time, finding only crushed feathers and blood. Kili crumples to his knees where he stands in the doorway, dropping his face into his hands.

Fili’s on his knees beside him in seconds. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he whispers, wrapping his arms around Kili’s shoulders. Kili twists in his grip, burying his face against Fili’s shoulder. The two stay like that until Kili’s sobs subside. When he stands again, the wizard’s gaze is all steel.

 

 

The two are settled on buckets, skinning shrivelfigs, when Kili casually proposes the idea that has been filling his thoughts for days on end, that Fili might like to accompany him to Europe when he leaves New York next week.

“We could go to London first, there’s a lobalug breeder I have a mind to give a very stern talking to,” Kili offers.

“That would be nice. I’ve always wanted to see it.” Fili agrees. “Under different circumstances anyways.”

The two work on in silence a few minutes before Kili’s brain makes the connection between Fili’s words.

“Were you in the war?” Kili asks, looking up at the blond from behind his fringe.

“Yes,” Fili returns his gaze, blue eyes steady. “I expect most men our age were. I was part of the Expeditionary Forces, in France mostly. You?”

“In the East. Working with dragons.”

Fili’s eyes widen, “Dragons? Surely you’re kidding.”

“Afraid not. The poor things didn’t want to be there anymore than we did and at least we had a choice.”

“Dragons, unbelievable…” Fili mutters quietly, returning to his shrivelfig.

Kili chuckles, smiling fondly at the blond. “Really? With all the beasts you’ve seen, you draw the line of impossible at dragons?”

 

 

The kiss is a soft thing, stolen under the branches of an enchanted forest. He isn’t sure who started it, but Fili’s hands have found purchase on his shoulders, Kili’s own hands cupping the blond’s jaw. Starlight dapples Fili’s face when Kili pulls away and he can’t resist the urge to sweep the pad of his thumb along the crest of a cheekbone.

 

 

Fili may not have a wand but that’s never stopped Kili from thinking he’s pure magic.


End file.
